Meth, a growing concern

Now that the primaries are over and the victory celebrations have ceased it is time to get down to the issues facing this county. In a recent article in the Log Cabin Democrat both remaining candidates for sheriff feel narcotics enforcement is an important issue in Faulkner County.

According to the DEA's website methamphetamine has become Arkansas' primary drug of concern. While the state's new pharmaceutical laws have reduced the amount of meth labs in operation the number of arrests for possession of meth is still on the rise. Recently we talked with candidate Karl Byrd about this problem.

Byrd, a long time warrior in the fight against illegal drugs,
Says this is due to an increase in the amount of meth making it's way up from Mexico. A fact that is confirmed by information listed on the DEA's website, it states,

The state is encountering locally produced methamphetamine as well as the importation of methamphetamine produced in Mexico. Not only does the state's rural landscape provide an ideal setting for illicit manufacturing, but the wide availability of precursor chemicals also contributes to the ease of manufacturing methamphetamine. Criminal groups are acquiring thousands of cases of pseudoephedrine via wholesalers and use sophisticated schemes to illegally ship, at a considerable profit, pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine producers.

While all these facts and figures give us an idea on the scope of the problem they cannot prepare you when this problem hits your home like it has ours. This past week we have been given an unfortunate education and a new prospective of the problem.

On Friday, May 19th we once again had to call the sheriff's office when a neighbor caused a disturbance in our neighborhood. In a drunken and hyped up state our neighbor was throwing his furniture out the windows, slamming and breaking walls and other objects in his home, and shouting out profanities about his recent separation from his significant other. So I yelled over the fence asking him to take it inside because there are kids out and they didn't need to see or hear that, he responded with threats. Not knowing what he would do next and fearing that someone was there and needed help I called 911.

The deputies responded in force this time and arrested him for disorderly conduct, public intoxication, resisting arrest, fleeing, and possession of a controlled substance. Upon further investigation we found that this was his second arrest in as many months for possession of a control substance and he is currently awaiting trial for having the makings of a meth lab in his shop.

In March of this year the neighbor had a fire in his shop that was believe to have been started by chemicals used in the production of meth. The Drug Task Force (DTF) was called and the burn remnants of the lab were taking into evidence.

About one month later the neighbor called the Greenbrier PD threatening suicide because his wife left him. He says he has a drug problem and did meth the night before. He was arrested for a warrant issued by the DTF's investigation the month before and more drug paraphernalia was confiscated.

He spent only one night in jail and was released on a sheriff's bond, still think the delays at the new jail aren't costing us, only to get out and continue his criminal ways. In his recent arrest he spent 6 days in jail but is now free again and back in the neighborhood.

We understand that in our justice system it takes time to prosecute criminal offenders and in time our neighbor will not be a problem, however he is a problem now and possibly will be for months while he awaits trial and jail, if convicted.

It will be interesting to see what comes of these cases over the next few months. Will the prosecutors and the courts step up and do what's right? It remains to be seen…

Byrd and Elliott win primaries

Democratic Primary

Karl Byrd 3925 (67%)
Jack Pike 1901 (33%)

Republican Primary

Jim Elliott 1294 (78%)
Ronnie Buckner 365 (22%)


Candidate Karl Byrd has defeated his opponent, Lt. Jack Pike, in the Democratic primary election on Tuesday. Byrd will now face Jim Elliott who defeated career candidate Ronnie Buckner in the Republican primary election.

Both candidates stress the need for change within the department to combat both the bad image the department has been given by recent events and the threat of rising crime rates that can come with the population increase the this county has seen and will continue to see.

In today’s Log Cabin Stefanie Sampson writes,

"The voters in Faulkner County have shown they want good, progressive law enforcement, and they know I have good intentions to take them there," Byrd said.

Byrd said he is still focused on opening the line of communications between the sheriff's office and both the citizens of Faulkner County and the Quorum Court. In addition, Byrd would like to turn the office into a proactive department.

Both of Tuesday's winners feel narcotics enforcement are an important issue in Faulkner County.

Elliott said he envisions greater manpower on the secondary roads in Faulkner County to prevent thefts and rolling methamphetamine labs.

He said, so far, the race has been run on credentials, but the rest of the race must be run on how the candidates see themselves in the office.

"I strongly feel we need a checks and balances system for expenditures, so I am able to spot review all financial expenditures. There will also be someone who would check all the expenditures," Elliott said.

He said serving back-warrants and getting criminals off the streets and in the new jail are very important. He wants to explore the feasibility and practicality of expanding the jail work crew to keep Faulkner County clean.

These are all very good points and both these candidates would make a good sheriff; this will be a close race. We have reset our poll so you can once again vote for who you think will win.

It's Primary Day!

Well the day of the primary is finally here, today is the day when we find out who will be the final candidates for the Race for Sheriff in Faulkner County. In our estimation we think the race will come down to Democratic candidate Karl Byrd and Republican candidate Jim Elliott. Our readers seem to agree and have voted as follows in our poll:

Karl Byrd (D) - 211 votes (74.82%)
Jim Elliott (R) - 50 votes (17.73%)
Jack Pike (D) - 14 votes (4.96%)
Ronnie Buckner (R) - 7 votes (2.48%)

Both the leading candidates in the Race for Sheriff have experience at the state level working for the State Police and both these candidates have similar platforms expressing the need for change. In the next coming months it will be interesting to see how this race will go. Of course we may be counting our chickens before they hatch because anything happen. As the old saying goes that fat lady hasn't sang yet but let's just say she warming up her old windpipes.

Other races of interest on this day are those of Faulkner County Circuit Clerk and Justice of the Peace District 4.

In the Circuit Clerk's race we have two candidates with deputy circuit clerk experience, one is currently the chief deputy circuit clerk. In our poll our readers have picked current Chief Deputy Clerk Ronda S. Long as the winner voting as follows:

Rhonda S. Long (D) - 81 votes (85.26%)
Lorraine Wilkinson (D) – 14 votes (14.74%)

In the Justice of the Peace District 4 we have seen very little input from the public in this race. In our poll we have seen only a handful of votes but we think this will be a close one. Our readers voted:

Russell T. Webb (D) - 10 (66.67%)
JP Barbara Mathes (D) - 5 (33.33%)

At the State level we have several important races that will be set today. A couple of them will be decided today as well. In the State Senate we have two senate district which include Faulkner County, district 18 and 29, that will be decided today as well as a heated House of Representative District 47 race that has 4 candidates running. To find out more about these candidates visit Arelections.org.

But once again "it aign't over till it over" so get out and vote if you haven't done so already.

Wait, wait, and wait

Well it seems that it will be the middle of August until the new jail is open. At Tuesday’s Quorum Court meeting Jail Administrator Bobby Brown brought a list of items that he says must be completed before work on resealing the floor can begin. This was the same issue that was raised at the last court meeting. But now nearly a month later the court gets a list?

Log Cabin reporter Stefanie Sampson reports Brown saying, "The key is, it won't open until it's safe for our officers - bottom line." But as I recall in the last meeting the issues were mainly cosmetic in nature and had little to do with officer safety. In fact Brown said he had already taken a prisoner work crew over to the new facility to do some work.

Some of the more interesting comments that were made by the JP’s are those of JP Diana Kellar, JP Mark Bailey, JP Dan Thessing, and JP Jerry Park.

Speaking of the list of uncompleted items Bailey said,

"I just want to know which of these items are show-stoppers for the jail to be opened. I'm not worried about money. I'm focused on crossing the goal-line. In my opinion, it's been way too long".

Way too long indeed. But …

JP Diana Kellar said the process could not be rushed to get the project finished.
"At this point, we can cast blame. We can say things should be open, but the jail will be open when it's ready. The best is being done to get it completed. We can't rush people to get it done," Kellar said

We’d have to disagree, we think the county should make the contractors work around the clock at their expense to finish the job as quickly as possible. Now say this project was a building going up in the private sector and the owners were told the project would be complete last December, do you think that the owners would be hee-hawing around while their building was sitting idle?

Some JPs questioned why the non-essential items could not wait to be fixed until after inmates begin to occupy the jail.

Park responded, "If you have workers in the jail after inmates are already occupying the areas, you have potential problems."

Now our question is if this were true then how does the current jail manage to get things fixed when they break? Doesn’t the county pay for plumbers and other professional repair services when they need them? It would seem to us that some non-violent inmates could be house there in areas that need little work. Although the smell of the new floor sealant might get pretty bad.

Speaking of the new floor coating, could it be applied in those finished areas while work is being done on others? After all according to Mike Callahan of Taggart Foster Currence Gray Architects Inc. of North Little Rock the new jail is ready for inmates.

According to Callahan, who is project manager, the jail already belongs to the county. He said the county has owned the jail since the certificate of substantial completion was presented and signed March 6. He said at that time, the jail was also certified for occupancy.

"This is a huge project with a lot of complex facilities. There are going to be a few problems after it opens. We could go through this list and fix everything, and get everyone moved in and find 10 more items later," Callahan said.

If this is so and the jail has been certified as ready for inmates then what’s the hold up. Could part of the problem be as JP Thessing suggests a lack of communication.

JP Dan Thessing said he wants to make sure all parties are working expeditiously to get the project completed.

"I want to see the right hand talking to the left hand and see inventive people working to get this done," Thessing said.

Any way you look at it this project has become a nightmare for all involved…
That includes us tax payers too…

The Power of the People

The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office has had some major problems over the past few years. Leadership and Management problems have left the department lacking in many areas. Among some of the worst have been the egregious acts of theft and fraud investigators found within the department. However prosecutors did not charge anyone with a crime and as a result over $13,000 in misspent money will not be recovered.

In Arkansas we have statues and constitutional provisions that prohibit the use of public money for private purposes but the penalties for these violations, when enforced, are only removal from office and a small fine. This simply does not adequately protect our tax dollars; we need this situation to change; we need a law that makes the misuse of public funds a crime.

In some states it is a felony to misuse public funds. The penalties for such violations are punishable by fines, restitution, loss of employment, and jail time. In Idaho recent additions to their law added specific wording to include the misuse of government issued credit cards. California also has laws that make the misuse of public funds a felony. Why doesn’t Arkansas have a law against the misuse of public funds?

Recently we asked you, our readers, to contact your legislators and asked them to consider this idea and make this new law, we to have approached our legislators and it’s paid off. State Representative Preston Scroggin has had this proposal drafted into a bill that will be before the legislature in January.

The Bill, Draft MBM516, will amend Arkansas Criminal Code Title 5 to include a section that makes the misuse of public funds a crime with the top count being a Class B felony. Anyone convicted of this crime, should it become law, will face jail time if the value of the money misused is over $2500.

While this new legislation will not prevent the misuse of public funds it will however give prosecutors more to work with when prosecuting cases such as we have seen here in Faulkner County. It will also give would be violators less wiggle room in trying to side step the spending laws of Arkansas.

The battle has been won but the war is far from over. We need your continuing support by making sure our legislators, both new and old, vote for this legislation. In our area we have two Senate positions and one State Representative position in question. We need to ask the candidates in these races for their support and vote for the ones receptive to this bill.

Together we can make a difference; together we can change the law.

More jail woes.

Today's Log Cabin features a story about some 20 rebellious inmates following a crack down on cleanliness at the Faulkner County Detention Center. In the story Capt. Jeff Johnson tells LCD reporter Stefanie Sampson that SWAT was called in when the inmates wouldn't comply with an order to lie down so jailers could remove them from the dayroom.

SWAT used an OC gas canister to affect entry and the inmate revolt was ended. Inmates were later returned to their cell and put on administrative lock down until they comply with the new policy. Stefanie Sampson writes,

Following the incident, the inmates were returned to their cell and placed on administrative lock down. Inmates in other cells complied with the new rules.

Johnston said the new cleaning policy was implemented last week because inmates were not keeping their cells properly maintained.

"It was nasty. I don't live like that; I don't expect anyone else to live like that. Now, they have a mandatory shower, mandatory cleaning, and they keep things neat and orderly," Johnston said.

In a recent letter to the editor inmate Herman Neal says jail conditions are deplorable. But his complaint has nothing to do with cleanliness. He writes,

Inmates and people awaiting processing and/or court are handcuffed to a concrete bench with metal bars, sometimes for hours and even days. To the people who run the Criminal Justice System, I would love to have your cooperation; but I fear you not. You know as well as I, that you could correct the overcrowding at the jail in less than a week. You could do this by freeing the young men who are being held that are not habitual and /or a threat to society. And could make a great change on this sickening food being served.

The asinine policy of political parties and their erroneous belief of, most Americans based solely on the concept, of punishment and it never has nor will it ever be successful in deterring crime. You know as well as I that prison and jail population are growing at an alarming rate, far faster than general population.

We do not agree with his assertion that the release of criminal offenders will solve the problem but his letter does show what has been a common theme for the FCDC, inmate care in an overcrowded facility. After years of lawsuits that has plagued Faulkner County we still have to contend with the overcrowded and unsafe conditions that are costing us taxpayers dearly.

Could tensions related to this overcrowding contributed to this revolt and the show of force by jail administrators? Will this incident result in more lawsuits?

So what about the county's new jail that was scheduled to be open in December? We'd have to say that it's basically a train wreck. Leaks, mold, and questions about floor coatings are among some of the problems that have delayed the opening of the new jail. A facility touted to be the remedy for the overcrowding isn't getting off on a good note.

Jail Administrator Bobby Brown and others have noted that the county is somehow saving money by not housing prisoners but that is simply isn't the case. Sure the county doesn't have to pay for "housing" prisoners but we are paying in other ways, ways that could ultimately cost us more should one of those prisoners win a lawsuit. Then there's the millions in past due fines that go uncollected while we wait for this train wreck to finally get open. Wednesday's event demonstrates a scary reality that jailers must live with everyday, the safety of the jail. Isn't it only a matter of time before these jail conditions lead to a major problem that will cost the taxpayers dearly? Hasn't it already cost us plenty in the defense of the many lawsuits? Somehow we think that cleanliness is the least of their problems. . .

It's Primary Time

Early voting starts next week in the primaries. In Faulkner County we have 2 races that will be decided in the primary later this month and one race that will set the field for November. The two races that will be decided are the race for Justice of the Peace District 4 and the race for Circuit Clerk. And of course in the race for sheriff voters this month will decide who will be on the ballot come November.

We at the Faulkner County News Blog realized the importance of these races and have given you the voter a poll in them. Visit our election page and click on the respective link for these races to vote for your favorite candidate. This will be a very important primary for these so go out and vote in this primary as well.

3 arrested in Faulkner County as part of a U.S. Marshal's sweep

FALCON is an annual U.S. Marshals' Service operation that netted 31 fugitives in the eastern district; three of those were caught in Faulkner County. For the past few years the Marshals Service has toured the country to helped local law enforcement agencies apprehend criminals with this program. Log Cabin reporter Stefanie Sampson writes,

Nationwide, the FALCON operation cleared more than 10,419 felony warrants during the seven-day operation. According to [Jim Hays of the U.S. Marshals Service Eastern District of Arkansas], task force members arrested 462 fugitives wanted for a variety of violent sex offenses, 311 fugitives for other felony sex crimes, 783 unregistered sex offenders, 73 homicide arrests with 87 warrants cleared, and 163 documented gang members. They also cleared 2,941 drug cases, and seized 111 guns, more than $120,265 in cash, and more than 91 kilograms of narcotics, according to information provided by Hays.

Don't get us wrong, we think this program is great but since the state of Arkansas has seen an increase in crime recently and since this county has millions in past due fines shouldn't more have been done? After all 31 fugitives out of 10,419 warrants cleared nationally is only 0.30 % for the entire eastern district.
Our question is where did they put those fugitives that were arrested, in the crowded county jail? One might also wonder about the crimes these individuals are accused of committing, were they committed in this county? In this county and this state we have an epidemic of increasing crime and crowded jails. We need more that this token gesture offered by the Marshals' Service, we need a real effort on the part of our law enforcement community.

Speaking of the crowded jail, at this months Quorum Court meeting we heard about construction delays that continue to push back the opening of our new jail. The jail that was suppose to open in November will still remain closed for at least another month while work is done on the floor.

The new jail has been touted as being a much needed addition for our county. When it's finally completed we have been told that the sheriff's office will focus their attention on the past due fines and getting more criminals off our streets. If that be the case then shouldn't their attention have been to finish the jail sooner?

At the last Quorum court meeting jail administrator Bobby Brown tells the court that no work has been done in weeks leaving one to wonder how they could simply sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting when all they had to do was call the County Judge's office and complain. Heck they could have simply walked across the court yard and complain in person. But they sit idly by and do nothing until asked about the progress by members of the Quorum Court.

At that meeting JP Johnnie Wells when asked about the cost of these delays stated it isn't costing the county any extra money, we just can't put inmate in their yet. Since the Quorum Court refuses to use a collection agency to collect fines and since the new jail still isn't completed the county has no effective way to collect fines and this does cost all of us.

This brings us to our last point in this post, money. There is a commercial that's been playing lately where Senator Tracy Steel is telling low income Arkansans about a discounted phone service for people who make 135% of the poverty level. The commercial states that a family of 4 making less than $27,000 qualifies for this government subsidy. Did you know that nearly all the deputies in this county make less than this amount?

In a past comment posted by Deputy Jason Bell it was noted that he, a deputy of nine years, makes less than 25,000. He said,

This is an interesting bit of information......the City of Oppelo. (A very small city between Morrilton and Perryville), just started a police department. Their starting salary for a full time officer is a little over 25,000 dollars per year. That is a little more than I make, and I have been with this agency going on nine years. Also, a Sergeant at Vilonia Police Department makes almost 16 dollars an hour,
[. . .]
We, the deputies, need citizens to attend these county meetings and help us get a raise. There should not be such a gap in pay. Research it sometime. Check Conway P.D.'s salaries and then check ours. Our dedication and loyalty has not been rewarded.

This could explain why there is a big turn over of deputies in the department. We have been told that the county has lost 33 deputies over the past few years. Something must be done to keep our deputies here. Better training and better benefits are needed to keep accomplish this. Isn't it time for the Sheriff and the Quorum Court to get serious about the collection of delinquent fines and the completion on the new jail?